Students had the chance to grill General Election candidates on issues affecting young people at a college hustings.

Parliamentary candidates for Leyton and Wanstead, John Cryer, Labour, Laura Farris, Conservative, Ben Sims, Liberal Democrat, and Walthamstow Green candidate, Andrew Johns, clashed during a debate at Leyton Sixth Form College on Thursday (May 18).

The panel were quizzed with questions submitted by college students before the event, which focussed on topics including jobs, crime and housing.

One of the issues at the top of the agenda was Brexit, with Labour’s Mr Cryer, who supported the leave campaign during the EU referendum, clashing with Lib Dem Mr Sims, whose party wants a second referendum on the terms of the UK’s exit from the union.

Mr Cryer said: “I object to the EU on democratic accountability, the commission, where the real power lies, is not democratically elected, it is not accountable, neither is the council of ministers.

“People bring immigration cases to me saying they cannot get relatives into the country from Jamaica or India, whereas if they came from EU countries there would be able to.

“They feel that is very unfair and it is one of the things that persuaded me that the EU is not necessarily an unalloyed joy on the world stage.”

However, Lib Dem candidate Mr Sims claimed issues such as public services and social housing would be harder to resolve due to the economic consequences of leaving the European Union.

He said: “I am not going to re-run the referendum arguments by explaining to John why the EU is democratic.

“I campaigned very strongly for remain and I still believe remaining in the European Union is in the interests of this country.

“Brexit is a spectacular act of economic self-harm and if we get a disastrous hard Brexit, all of the other issues we have discussed will be crushed because our economy will be damaged.”

Students also wanted to hear how the candidates’ parties would ensure employment opportunities were given to youngsters from low-income backgrounds.

Tory Ms Farris claimed a strong economy would boost job prospects for all members of society.

She said: “Unemployment is the lowest it has been in 40 years and the level of new apprenticeships is higher than ever. Opportunities for those entering the job market are the best they have ever been.

“I know it can sound very attractive when you have other candidates promising to invest £300 million, £500 million, £10 billion but the reality is we need to get the deficit under control.

“We need to have the building blocks of a strong economy so businesses can thrive and we continue to see falling unemployment and job creation.”

However, Green Party candidate Mr Johns said funding to services within the community needed to be protected in order to help young people from low-income families reach their potential.

He added: “I come from social housing, I grew up in a council house with parents who were on benefits and if it was not for the fact I had opportunities I was given.

“We have to acknowledge the wider impact of the services like libraries and legal aid that are available in the community, people from low income families are most dependent on those services.

“If they are all being cut they are going to suffer, so yes, put money in their pockets and make sure they have job opportunities but also look at the wider picture.”